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Gangbare naam: Acton, Eliza
Officiële naam: Acton, Elizabeth
Geboortedatum: 1799-04-17
Overlijdensdatum: 1859-02-13
Geslacht: female
Nationaliteit: England
UK
Geboorteplaats: Battle, England, UK
Plaats van overlijden: Hampstead, London, England, UK
Woonplaatsen: Sussex, England, UK
Suffolk, East Anglia, England, UK
France
Hampstead, London, England, UK
Beroepen: poet
cookbook writer
Korte biografie: Eliza Acton was born in Battle, Sussex, England, the daughter of a brewer. At age 17, she co-founded a girls' school near Ipswich. Her first collection of poems was published in 1826, mostly on the theme of disappointment in love. She published further individual poems in local publications. Her best-known work is Modern Cookery for Private Families, first published in 1845. It was the product of several years of research and testing. It quickly became extremely popular and remains a standard cookbook. It was an immensely influential work in its day for its clarity, style, and attention to detail. It established the format for all modern cookbook writing, listing the exact ingredients required for each recipe, the time needed to prepare, etc. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861) was closely modelled on it. Eliza moved to London, where she contributed household hints and recipes to the Ladies' Companion and wrote her other book, The English Bread Book (1857). She died in 1859, at age 59.

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Modern Cookery for private families door Eliza Acton

One if the best cookery books Britain has ever produced.

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AgedPeasant | 3 andere besprekingen | Aug 27, 2020 |

Best of Eliza Acton (Penguin handbooks) by Acton,… door Elizabeth Ray

Inscription and thank you note on inside fly leaf, signed by the the publisher Elizabeth Ray

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boydlibrary | Nov 20, 2015 |

Modern Cookery for Private Families (Classic Voices… door Eliza Acton

This substantial book is crammed full with recipes grouped under thirty two different headings including such as Store Sauces; Curries, Potted Meats, Etc; Pastry; Preserves; Pickles; Confectionary; Syrups, Liqueurs, Etc; Coffee, Chocolate, Etc; Foreign and Jewish Cookery - along with the obvious various fish, meat and puddings and deserts and more.

The recipes are presented simply in paragraph form, with no separate list of ingredients as we are so used to today, and virtually no illustrations save a the very few originals, it is as much a record of its time, over 150 years past, but still appropriate today. The instructions are clear and straight forward, occasionally with a brief additional comment or two. Sometimes the measures or quantities are a little vague, but once in a while they are very specific with directions such as "exactly half a pint"; a rather interesting approach suggesting perhaps that in most cases the cook is given a little latitude to express himself. Another appealing point is that sometimes the recipes give a reason for following a certain procedure, so you know why it needs to be that way. The recipes do not tell how many the resultant dish is intended to serve.

There are so many recipes in this very thick volume that one cannot fail to find something interesting, and there are many that provide basic cooking methods for fish and meat and more along with the more elaborate recipes.… (meer)

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presto | 3 andere besprekingen | Apr 23, 2012 |

Modern Cookery for Private Families (Classic Voices… door Eliza Acton

This is a facsimile copy of the original book by Eliza Acton from 1845. It is easy to read, with useful diagrams alongside the recipes. No photos of course!

There are often several versions of a dish designed for differing budgets and many seem very contemporary.

If you like history and you like cookery books, you will very much enjoy this reissue.